“I’m Feeling Much Better” – This group was written off for dead, perhaps too soon and suddenly appear to be resurgent.

Chris Johnson – His fall from grace seemed all but complete after a pedestrian start to this season on the heels of a disappointing 2011 campaign. Maybe he and MJD have suddenly changed places. Somehow Chris Johnson looked like the Chris Johnson of old while gashing the Buffalo Bills last week…and just in time for the Titans to have to make a decision on the big money portion of his controversial contract extension.

San Francisco Giants – The Giants have been buried twice in this post-season. Down by 2 games to Cincinnati in their opening series and 3-1 to St. Louis in the NLCS. This after many looked to write them off after the loss of Melky Cabrera for a PED related suspension. They’ll likely have to remain resilient as they’ll start the World Series matching the bottom of their rotation against a rested and ready Tigers staff, but they’re alive and kicking…for now at least.

Barry Zito – Speaking of the resilient Giants, Zito’s contract has been a bane on the Giants since pretty much the day it was signed. He’s been written off as dead and the back more time than Jason Voorhies it would seem and he may have saved his best for this year. Zito picked up “back to the wall” victories in Game 4 of the NLDS and Game 5 of the NLCS and will be worth every penny if somehow the Giants go on to win the World Series. He’ll need to continue to be great, as he’ll match up with Tigers’ ace Justin Verlander in Game 1.

Jay Cutler – Cutler was taken to task by Maurice Jones-Drew and many others for taking injured in a playoff game 2 years ago and has been mostly written off sine. His Bears were riding high last season until a thumb injury ended his season in 2011 and has been routinely been running for his life behind a Bears offensive line that’s been neglected for far too long. Cutler is a salty type who doesn’t hide his emotion well which has caused many to question his leadership, even in the Bears lone loss this season at the hands of the Packers. At 5-1 Cutler has his Bears flying high for now and has again found the upside in Brandon Marshall another character enigma who has thrived when paired with Cutler but struggled otherwise.

Notre Dame Football – They’ve been a joke for far too long. A team taken to task for the sweetheart TV deal they own and for not backing their legend up on the field. Just as everyone had grown accustomed to ignoring the Irish they managed to put together a season like this. There’s a tough showdown with Oklahoma coming up and should they survive that it looks like smooth sailing until a season ending showdown with USC. If the Irish finish up without a loss it’ll be hard to keep them out of the title game, whether the difficulty of their schedule is real or not.